Fastener

ABSTRACT

A device for releasably fastening together diverse portions of material, comprising a male member having an enlarged portion, said male member being partially inserted within a slotted, spring containing female member. After such insertion, and relative movement between said members, said enlarged portion is prevented from being removed from said slotted portion.

United States Paten 1 Puckett [451 Dec. 30, 1975 FASTENER 22 Filed: Dec.18,1974

21 Appl. No.: 533,934

[52] US. Cl. 24/224; 24/217; 24/113; 24/73 [51] Int. Cl. A4413 17/00 [58FieldofSe'arch ..24/2l7 W, 94, 113 MP, 24/73 HS, 224

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,486,092 3/1974 Johnstone24/217 W 2,100,635 11/1937 De Vries 24/217 W 2,441,573 5/1948 Huelster24/217 W 2,497,305 2/1950 Isaac et a1. 2,500,694 3/1950 Matsumoto 24/217W Primary ExaminerRobert L. Wolfe Assistant ExaminerD. L. TroutmanAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert W. B. Dickerson [57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims,12 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec.30, 1975 Sheet l of2 3,928 89 US.Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,928,896

i 45a jmf 7 'FASTENER BACKGROUND oF THE INVENTION It goes without sayingthat fasteners have. long been used to secure together separate piecesof material, or

v2 After positioning the grommets 'on opposite sides of the fabric, tabs13 would be crimped to fix the male member to the fabric. FIG. 2 depictsan alternative design of the male member. There, discs 16 and 17 arefixed at opposite ends of stem 18. The fabric, not shown, would befixed, as by crimping means, not shown, between disc 17 and acounterpart disc 19. This would leave disc hole, may be said to possesssuch feature,'its frailty, as

mentioned, renders it unsatisfactory, The device of this inventionovercomes the above two fold problems, and would be subject toeconomical fabrication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention includes two basic components,namely (a) a male portion, deemed a mushroom because of its appearance,and a (b) female portion, deemed a case. Each of such components wouldbe fixed to diverse pieces of material or fabric. The male portionincludes a stem and an enlargement, such as a disc. The female portion,although having other subcomponents, includes, a plate with an enlargedopening and a relatively narrow slot extending therefrom. Adjacent suchplate is a spring device, having a restricted passageway. Theenlargement of the male portion may be inserted through said femaleportions enlarged opening, and the stem pulled through the springsrestricted passageway and into said narrow slot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. la, lb and 1c are verticalsections through the male portion, at various time frames of itsassembly to a piece of fabric;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through a modified male portion;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the base plate component of the case;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of the case's chamber, and 4a is a verticalsection of the base plate fixed to the chamber;

FIG. 5 is a perspective of the connector plate, and FIG. 5a is avertical section of the connector plate fixed to the chamber;

FIGS. 6a and 6b are, respectively, horizontal and vertical sectionsthrough the chamber, showing the spring positioned therein; and

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section through the chamber, showing the springin place, and male portion in locked position.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Looking at the drawings, wherelike parts have like numerals, throughout, consider first the mushroomportion 10 (male member) of FIGS. la, lb and 1c. Said member includes anenlargement, or disc portion 11, at one end of a stem or rod 12. Tabs orlugs 13 are fixed to or extend from the other end of stem 12. Grommets14 may be used to fix member 10 to a section or piece of fabric 15, asdepicted in sequential FIGS. 1b and 1c.

' 16 available, like member 11 of the previous Figures.

The case portion (female member) of the invention, includes four subcomponents, i.e., a base, chamber portion, spring, and connector.

FIG. 3 illustrates, in perspective, the base 20. Such member includesplate portion 21,.having an annular rim 22 depending therefrom. Theplatform portion has a keyhole configuredaperture t'herethrough, suchaperture having a slot portion 23 connected to an enlarged, morecircular portion 24.

Chamber member 30, see FIGS. 4 and 4a, also includes a plate portion 31,a continuous wall 32 extending therefrom, and a substantially annularlip 33 depending from the edge of wall 32 opposite its linkage withplate 31. Extending from plate 31, in a direction opposite from wall 32,are a plurality of deformable members 34. These latter members may betube configured, tabs or any other deformable form for properlyperforming their function. As illustrated, a chamber 35 is formedintermediate plates 21 and 31 for receiving spring member 40. Suchspring is substantially U- shaped, with legs 41, 42, such legs beingbent around themselves, forming return legs 43, 44. Such return legs areupwardly curved at 45, 46 (see FIG. 6b), and the tips, at 47, 48, form arestricted gate or orifice. Upwardly curved portions 45, 46 abut plate31 of chamber member 30, and, tend to prevent slippage or movement ofsaid spring. The base of the U may also be upwardly curved, (not shown)to provide 3-point support.

The connector member 50 includes a central plate portion 51, withapertures 52 therethrough for receiving deformable members 34therethrough. Said connector also includes rim 53. depending from theouter periphery of plate 51. Obviously, the case portion, comprised ofmembers 20, 30, 40 and 50 is assembled, as shown in FIG. 5a. A sectionof fabric 54 is positioned intermediate plates 31, 51, the connector 50receiving deformable members 34 of the chamber portion 30, and saidmembers 34 crimped over said connector 50, to fix the entire case(female member) to such material.

In final assembly and usage, the male member 10 would be fixed to afirst fabric: portion, probably near its edge. The case portion members20, 30, 40 and 50, would be fixed to the facing surface of an adjacentfabric portion sought to be releasably joined to said first fabricportion. The alignment of such case portion would be such that theenlargedportion 24 of the keyhole opening through plate 21- would befurther removed from the male member 10 than would be the restrictedslot 23. To cause fastening, disc 11 of male member 10 would be passedthrough enlarged opening 24 of base 20, and the entire female portionmoved away from the male portion. Thus, the male portion, including disc11 and stem 12 would pass through the restricted opening formed by tips47, 48 of spring 40. Narrow slot or channel 23 would prevent removal ofdisc therethrough. Also, the natural stresses encountered by the joinedsections of fabric, i.e., those tending to separate them, would tend tocause the male portion to be more firmly seated, rather than to passthrough 3 the restricted spring orifice and out of enlargement 24, thusthe positive lock feature.

Although limited embodiments have been described, it should be obviousthat numerous modifications would be possible by one skilled in the art1 without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of whichis intended to be limited by the following claims.

I claim:

1 l. A positive lock device for fastening together adjacent sections ofmaterial, said device comprising:

a. a male portion adapted to be fixed to a first portion of saidmaterial, said male portion including means permitting it to be soaffixed to said material first portion, and further including a narrow,slot-engaging stern connected to an enlarged portion;

b. a female portion adapted to be fixed to a second portion of saidmaterial, said female portion including an interior chamber, a platehaving an aperture therethrough, said aperture having an enlargedportion and a narrow slot leading transverse therefrom, said aperturecommunicating with said chamber, spring means including a pair of legsforming a restricted orifice positioned within said chamber between thearea underlying said enlarged aperture portion and the area underlyingsaid narrow slot, and means for affixing said female portion to saidmaterial second portion, said aperture being so positioned that on saidmale enlarged portion being inserted through said aperture and saidstern moved through said orifice, forces tending to separate saidadjacent material sections will be opposed by said narrow slot.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said male and female portions areaffixed to said portions of said mate rial with said slot nearer saidmale portion than said enlarged aperture portion.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said female portion comprises a plateportion containing said aperture and a chamber forming member engagedwith said plate member, said chamber forming member including saidaffixing means, said affixing means being deformable.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said spring means legs include curvedmeans for separating said female plate portion from said female chamberforming member.

1. A positive lock device for fastening together adjacenT sections ofmaterial, said device comprising: a. a male portion adapted to be fixedto a first portion of said material, said male portion including meanspermitting it to be so affixed to said material first portion, andfurther including a narrow, slot-engaging stem connected to an enlargedportion; b. a female portion adapted to be fixed to a second portion ofsaid material, said female portion including an interior chamber, aplate having an aperture therethrough, said aperture having an enlargedportion and a narrow slot leading transverse therefrom, said aperturecommunicating with said chamber, spring means including a pair of legsforming a restricted orifice positioned within said chamber between thearea underlying said enlarged aperture portion and the area underlyingsaid narrow slot, and means for affixing said female portion to saidmaterial second portion, said aperture being so positioned that on saidmale enlarged portion being inserted through said aperture and said stemmoved through said orifice, forces tending to separate said adjacentmaterial sections will be opposed by said narrow slot.
 2. The device ofclaim 1 wherein said male and female portions are affixed to saidportions of said material with said slot nearer said male portion thansaid enlarged aperture portion.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein saidfemale portion comprises a plate portion containing said aperture and achamber forming member engaged with said plate member, said chamberforming member including said affixing means, said affixing means beingdeformable.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein said spring means legsinclude curved means for separating said female plate portion from saidfemale chamber forming member.